GOLAGHAT: The Kaziranga National Park (KNP) and Tiger Reserve is slowly starting to witness tourist footfalls as the COVID-19 restrictions are being relaxed. Visitors from across India have started arriving at the park.
Kaziranga, with its one-horned rhino, scenic beauty and elephant safari dominates the wildlife tourism segment in the Northeast. This year, it closed early due to the COVID-19 pandemic scare. There was uncertainty on when the park was going to be opened. But with COVID-19 spread under control and a vaccine round the corner the state government decided to open the park for visitors. The park was formally opened to tourists on 21 October by Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal. The bookings for elephant and jeep safari are encouraging.
Tourists arriving in KNP are enjoying the jeep safari and the elephant safari. The elephant safari started on 1st November. “It’s an amazing experience here. We enjoyed the safari and were happy to see the migratory birds. We also saw some rhinos, elephants and wild buffaloes,” shared a tourist.
“It is refreshing as we have come out after a long time. The environment here is really good,” said a visitor.
The park authorities are following all the necessary COVID-19 protocols as tourists could be seen wearing masks all the time.
“Yes, our temperature was checked, sanitization was done and we have been asked to keep the face masks on. We saw a lot of animals,” said visitors from Dimapur.
